The registration on 4/7/2012 at 9:00 am, with the first car out at 9:45. Our starting point is going to be in the parking lot of the Home Depot and Forza Coffee in Covington (27177 186th Avenue SE, Covington). From there, the route will be approximately 100 miles, traveling some of the more interesting roads of the area. We are also planning a mid rally stop, where there are restroom facilities, so getting coffee at the start is quite alright. You won't be in danger of having to come up with your own solution.

 

Also, please be sure to remember a clipboard or some other hard surface to write on, a pencil, and a co-driver who can write without getting queasy from writing while someone else is driving.

Let me know if your interested in partisipating in the rally.

 

John (slyderone)

 

 

All of these rallies are slight variations of the Gimmick Rally, which is sort of like a scavenger hunt crossed with the TV show "The Amazing Race", although this type of rally predates that show of course.

At a gimmick rally you are given a set of directions, sometimes explicit ("Turn left on Marvin Road") and sometimes clue and observation based ("Turn left at your third opportunity" {dead ends don't count}) depending on the rally and who is putting it together.  These directions also have questions, sometimes answered with obvious observations ("What is on top of the Johnson's mailbox") and sometimes whimsical ("Make sure they don't fill your crankcase with cornbread here" {Answer: Jiffy Lube}).  The Jiffy Lube answer is what I could come up with on short notice, but you get the idea.  Most question and answer sheets have a few paragraphs about the area you are driving through and sometimes an answer is hidden in there.  Be sure to read the Q and A sheets carefully and fully before setting out; there can be a hidden question at the end ("How many bridges did you cross on the course?").

The Winged Victory Rally has observation based directions and obvious questions and answers; the Tulip Rallye has obvious directions and more whimsical questions.  Neither rally switches it up during the course.  I don't know how the Sticks and Stones or FIAT Club rallye will handle directions and questions.

This type of rally is scored from the question and answer sheet first and in the event of a tie the team with the distance closest to (but not under) the course distance wins; the team with the shortest time out is the winner if a third tiebreaker is needed.  So you can see that speed will not help you; in fact it will hinder you because you will drive past the clues and directions too fast.

Here's a link to the last club newsletter that was put out; it contains an article we wrote about competing in rallies:

http://www.psmini.org/Common/Newsletters/2011%20Summer%20Newsletter4.pdf" rel="nofollow - http://www.psmini.org/Common/Newsletters/2011%20Summer%20Newsletter4.pdf

Rallymasters: Feel free to weigh in about my observations on this post-

Bruce

 

We started doing this back in the 90's as a practice for the Tulip Rallye.  We use turn-by-turn route instructions, which have no tricks, and questions are mixed in.  Most answers are found along the route, but we did add trivia when the MG club did.

 

The answers to the questions will be found, if the rallymaster has not screwed-up, along the route between the two turn instructions.  Meaning that if you arrive at the next turn without finding the answer you missed it somewhere.  But like I implied sometimes the rallymaster makes a mistake, so everyone dumps on him when we correct the answers at the restaurant. 

 

Thanks,

 

Bert

President

Fiat Enthusiasts Northwest

Sorry so late getting back I've been on Jury Duty the last week.